Louis Theroux: Law and Disorder in Johannesburg

A top tier documentary for Louis in terms of how interesting the subject is and how amazing it is that the documentary was even made at all. Louis fearless in his pursuit of understanding his subjects, and to see people in such circumstances open up and reveal themselves to the extent that they do is extraordinary. From making fun of UFO hunters to this, Louis has come a very long way.

Louis Theroux\'s deceitful child-like interview style allows him to ask some basic but tough questions and it works wonderfully here. He manages to probe those who\'s lives are connected with gang life by simply asking \"why do you do it?\" And \"why don\'t you tell the police about who you shot you?\" Yes, we know the answer, and so does Louis: the unspoken code of never ratting on anyone. What\'s interesting is how the interviewees handle such questions that I\'m sure they never even ask themselves.

Split into two parts, the Philadelphia hour is very average (if you\'ve seen The Wire or any one of the billion cop docs that come out of the US, you\'ve seen it all before) but the Johannesburg section is much more enlightening, following the vigilante \'security firms\' around and seeing how impoverished and brutal life can be for the poor of the city. Theroux himself could be absent for both as it\'s what we see not what he says that matters here.

Two hours is far too brief a look at something so vast and intangible, but the filmmakers do their best to narrow the focus. Louis\'s faux-naïveté is the perfect lens through which to view these people\'s situations: they\'re often built upon and perpetuated by such ridiculous premises (like \"stop snitching\") that they crumble under even a cursory and ostensibly uninformed examination. There are no real solutions proposed, but then what possible solutions are there?

someone gon get burned

District 9 makes Johannesburg look like Disneyland.

How come no one has commented on that criminal at the end who talks about throwing babies in ovens and cutting throats and shooting everyone but talks like a Disney pirate.

Philadelphia part was way over the top and ridiculously one sided and we were able to get the picture in Johannesburg after a minute. Mostly boring with a few insightful things but really not worth watching.

Not even quirky style of Louis Theroux could make these documentaries any brighter. Life in the streets of Philadelphia seems depressing, but I was really shocked by hopelessness, poverty and violence in Johannesburg. Unusually heavy Theroux documentary.

Insight into the violence and insecurity of our times.